An electrophoretic display (EPD) is a non-emissive device based on the electrophoresis phenomenon influencing charged pigment particles suspended in a colored dielectric solvent. This general type of display was first proposed in 1969. An EPD typically comprises a pair of opposed, spaced-apart plate-like electrodes, with spacers predetermining a certain distance between the electrodes. At least one of the electrodes, typically on the viewing side, is transparent.
When a voltage difference is imposed between the two electrodes, the pigment particles migrate by attraction to the plate of polarity opposite that of the pigment particles. Thus, the color showing at the transparent plate, determined by selectively charging the plates, can be either the color of the solvent or the color of the pigment particles. Reversal of plate polarity will cause the particles to migrate back to the opposite plate, thereby reversing the color. Intermediate color density (or shades of gray) due to intermediate pigment density at the transparent plate may be obtained by controlling the plate charge through a range of voltages or pulsing time.
EPDs of different pixel or cell structures have been reported previously, for example, the partition-type EPD (M. A. Hopper and V. Novotny, IEEE Trans. Electr. Dev., 26(8):1148–1152 (1979)) and the microencapsulated EPD (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,961,804 and 5,930,026).
An improved EPD technology was disclosed in co-pending applications, U.S. Ser. No. 09/518,488, filed on Mar. 3, 2000 (corresponding to WO 01/67170 published on Sep. 13, 2001), U.S. Ser. No. 09/606,654, filed on Jun. 28, 2000 (corresponding to WO 02/65215 published on Aug. 22, 2002) and U.S. Ser. No. 09/784,972, filed on Feb. 15, 2001 (corresponding to WO 02/01281 published on Jan. 3, 2002), all of which are incorporated herein by reference. The improved EPD comprises isolated cells formed from microcups of well-defined shape, size and aspect ratio and filled with charged particles dispersed in a dielectric solvent or solvent mixture, preferably a halogenated solvent, particularly a perfluorinated solvent. The filled cells are individually sealed with a polymeric sealing layer, preferably formed from a composition comprising a material selected from a group consisting of thermoplastics, thermosets and precursors thereof.
All of the previously known and the microcup-based electrophoretic displays may be constructed into the form of a board to be used as e-signs or e-bulletins. However, the use of a transparent conductor film, such as indium tin oxide (ITO) on the viewing side, particularly the patterned film, in these large displays is an economic disadvantage as the transparent conductor film is expensive. The expense for the transparent conductor film often is a major part of the total manufacturing cost of the electrophoretic display. In addition, the ITO film is brittle and only provides about 80–90% of transmission or reflection in the visible light region. Therefore, there is still a need for a solution to these issues.